The Tsunami
Jan. 1st, 2005 10:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smofbabeI haven't really said anything about the tsunami and its devastating after-effects because, after all, what can you say? It's impossible to get one's head around the numbers of dead and injured, and those likely to die in the coming days and weeks from the diseases that are an inescapable result of the lack of sanitary water. The news coverage here has been very good: the affected regions are common destinations for Australian tourists (107 Australians are feared dead and 950 are still unaccounted for) so I suspect the coverage has been more thorough than in the U.S. (I must admit to feeling a bit like the Angel of Death: when I visited Australia a year ago there was also a natural disaster on Boxing Day: the earthquake in Bam, Iran, that killed 26,000 people.)
Regarding aid, I had already given to the non-sectarian American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, which has been doing this sort of work since World War I. This morning, I decided to make another contribution, to Doctors Without Borders. Imagine my surprise when I went to their web site to find the following statement:
I suspect this might be a first in the annals of charities asking for contributions, and makes me at least feel even more secure that money donated to this cause does indeed go where you direct it.
Regarding aid, I had already given to the non-sectarian American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, which has been doing this sort of work since World War I. This morning, I decided to make another contribution, to Doctors Without Borders. Imagine my surprise when I went to their web site to find the following statement:
As you know, it is very important to MSF that we use your contribution as you intend it to be used. This is why we want to let you know that at this time, MSF estimates that we have received sufficient funds for our currently foreseen emergency response in this region...
We kindly request that you contribute to our general Emergency Relief Fund, which is enabling our quick response to the current disaster in South Asia as well as humanitarian needs in war-torn Darfur, Sudan, and elsewhere in the over 70 countries where MSF is working around the world...
I suspect this might be a first in the annals of charities asking for contributions, and makes me at least feel even more secure that money donated to this cause does indeed go where you direct it.
